Babaganoush Soup

This is not a resolution but I have been trying some new recipes. Last night was babaganoush soup. I highly recommend this soup although prep time was a bit longer than I prefer (about an hour).

Ingredients

• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 large eggplant
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 plum tomatoes
  
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock (I used a bit more)
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• cilantro
  
• 1 lemon

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Slice your eggplant (don’t peel) and lay slices on a sheet tray lined with tin foil. Press paper towels on top of your eggplant slices and let sit for 20 minutes. When done, remove paper towels and dice eggplant. Spray foil with cooking spray and place eggplant back on. Sprinkle generously with salt and roast for 25 minutes, tossing occasionally.
2. While eggplant is roasting, roast red pepper on a burner’s open flame (or just chop and roast with eggplant) until black. Let cool then gently rub off blackened pepper skin and chop up.
3. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat then add the chopped onion. Saute for five minutes until soft then add the garlic. Saute for 30 more seconds.
4. Add the stock, roasted diced eggplant and red bell pepper and tomato. Stir in the spices and tahini. Bring to a simmer then carefully transfer soup to blender or use an immersion blender Process until smooth.
5. Ladle soup into bowls and finish with a squeeze of lemon and a sprig of cilantro.
   

tUnE-yArDs - WHO KILL

tUnE yArDs is really Merrill Garbus, 30 something, former puppeteer/nanny turned DIY/one-woman-show musician. Her music is reflective of her time in a child-like world but still possesses soulfulness and depth.

Her voice is un-girly and unique. She cultivates and adapts international African flavor into her songs in a manner I found much more acceptable than Paul Simons collaborations with Johnny Clegg and Savuka. She assures us despite her semester abroad in Nairobi that she "did not study yodeling in the jungly forests of Central Africa! I was a pimply, sweaty college student awkwardly seeking an introduction to East Africa, stressed out and half-crazy on anti-malarial drugs."

The song Bizness, like most of the songs on WHO KILL, details her life in her adopted hometown of Oakland, a place midway between poverty and gentrification. It employs xylophone rolls and a raucous chorus and still there is harmony. You Yes You, raps out an affirmative go-for-it anthem.

On a scale of 1 to 10, this album gets an 8.5.

The Purpose ...

In 2012, I resolve to read and review one book a month (easy - I read about four a month), listen to and review one record a month (less easy as it has to be a recent release and I stopped being obsessed with music years ago), see and review one movie a month (difficult since it has to be new release and I don't often watch anything that isn't a documentary), and drink and review one bottle of wine a month (easy-peasy!).

One friend asked me to blog my efforts...here it goes.